“Flee Sexual Immorality”

1 Corinthians 10.8

I. Introduction

A. Sexual Immorality is out of control in our country

1. Not just statistics on divorce and extramarital affairs, teens giving birth.

2. Not just in understanding that pornography is a multibillion dollar a year industry

3. Not just in TV, music, theaters

4. But we see it around us: family, friends, neighbors, brethren

B. And we are more and more trying to justify sexual immorality

1. Monogamy is not normal, affairs should be expected and accepted; and divorce

2. A repression of sexual immorality between young people is actually harmful to them.

C. But is this what God planned for us?

II. Marriage and Sexuality

A. Creation: Genesis 1:27; 2.18, 22-25

1. "27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

a. Genesis 2:18 "18 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.""

b. Genesis 2:22-25 "22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

B. Purpose: Genesis 1:28

1. "Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.""

2. God made man and woman, put them in a relationship (marriage, one flesh) and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply

a. Man and woman married for life!

b. Procreate! Sexual instincts

c. Enjoyable! Sexual instincts

d. Unity! One Flesh

3. More than just physical.

4. But totally combined: a union of two people into one: emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental.

C. Understanding the Value of Marriage: Hebrews 13:4

1. "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge."

a. NIV: "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."

2. Honorable: 5093 timios; timioteros; timiotatos: from 5092;; adj

a. as of great price, precious

b. held in honour, esteemed, especially dear

3. Undefiled: 283 amiantos: not defiled, unsoiled: free from that by which the nature of a thing is deformed and debased, or its force and vigour impaired

4. Fornicators and Adulterers

a. 4202 porneia: illicit sexual intercourse

b. 3432: to commit adultery with, have unlawful intercourse with another's wife

5. God will judge:

a. 1 Corinthians 10:8 "8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell;"

6. "Either marriage, with complete faithfulness to your partner, or else total abstinence" (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 89)

III. Our Problem with Sexual Immorality (Fornication)

A. This rule seems contrary to our instincts

1. Is that because God is wrong or

2. Is it our sexual instincts have gone wrong?

3. NOT GOD!

B. Comparison with Eating

1. Both have a purpose

a. Sexuality has a purpose: children and unity.

b. Eating has a purpose: provides energy for the body

2. If over indulging: desserts

3.

a. If Over eating

4. Eat whenever we are inclined, and as much as we want: most of us will eat too much

5. But not too, too much: one man may eat enough for two, but not for ten.3. Our appetite may go somewhat beyond it's biological purpose, but not enormously.

a. If oversexed

6. If a young man indulged sexual appetite whenever inclined; and each act produced a baby, would not be long before he could populate a small village.

7. This appetite is ludicruous and preposterous in excess of its purpose.

8. Striptease for food?

a. What think if a large crowd gathered at a theater to watch a covered plate be rolled out before them, and then slowly lifting the cover so that everyone could just see that it contained steamed vegetables, a loaded baked potatoe, and a thick, juicy steak.

9. Do you assume something has gone wrong with these people's appitite for food?

a. Yet numerous places in numerous cities; including ours have places where people gather to watch a girl slowly undress.

10. Wouldn't this mean something is wrong with our sexual appitites?

a. If there were such food striptease act, what would you assume about the people? That they are starving?

c. Yet we certainly are not suffering from a lack of sexual stimulation in our society.

d. Gluttons and food connoisseurs consume much of their time thinking about food, just as those who are going hungry.

D. Lies of our culture

1. "It's natural."

a. All sexual desires are as natural as other desires, and if we would abandon all our moral prudishness then everything would be okay.

b. We've been hearing this for years, but are things getting any better?

c. We've been told sexuality is a mess because it was hushed up. Now it's being talked about all the time, and it's still messed up!

2. "Sex is nothing to be ashamed of"

a. True in one sense: Bible teach the same, God created it; made special in marriage.

b. But usually mean that the way things are now, sexually promiscuous, is nothing to be ashamed of.

3. This is wrong.

4. Nothing wrong with food, but if we focused all the time on food; spent our time looking at pictures of food, drooling and smacking our lips: it's just wouldn't be right.

5. "Resistance is futile."

a. We've made it so that resisting such desires; because they are so natural, so healthy, so reasonable; seems almost abnormal and perverse in itself.

b. Yes, sexual desires are normal: in the correct situation.

c. Lie, because not every sexual temptation at every moment is healthy and normal.

d. Our society tends to promote this obsession: make money: no self-control, little resistance to sales pitches.

e. And we think it is impossible to be chaste.

6. “If it feels that good how can it be wrong.”

7. “We really love each other”

8. “We going to get married anyway”

IV. Dealing with Sexual Immorality

A. It begins in our hearts, as other sins: Matthew 15.19; Mark 7.21

1. Matthew 15:19 "19 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies."

B. But it is unique because of sinning against our own bodies: 1 Corinthians 6.12-20

1. 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 "12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh." {Ge 2:24} 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body ."

2. Corinthian View: When your body is hungry, feed it. When you feel sexual desire, sate it.

3. Body is for the Lord

a. Because sexual union is not just physical, like eating, but spiritual too

b. Bodies will be resurrected; must not defile body

4. Our bodies are members of Christ.

a. Joined to harlot = one flesh

5. The monstrosity of those who are sexually immoral, outside marriage, is that they are trying to isolate one kind of union, the physical, from all the other kinds of union intended to go along with it and make up the total union.

6. We are joined to Christ

a. Sexual Immorality and Divorce: Matthew 5.32; 19.9

b. Matthew 5:32 "But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality {Or fornication} causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery."

c. Matthew 19:9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, {Or fornication} and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.""

7. Divorce is to be regarded as something like cutting up a living body;

a. it is more like cutting off both your legs than dissolving a business partnership.

8. Our bodies have been purchased, v. 19-20!

a. Titus 2:14 "14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."

b. 1 Peter 1:18, 19 "18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

9. Flee Sexual Immorality! (v. 18; Acts 15.20, 29; 21.25; 1 Thessalonians 4.3; Ephesians 5.3

a. Acts 15:20 "but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, {Or fornication} from things strangled, and from blood."

b. Acts 15:29 "that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. {Or fornication} If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."

c. Acts 21:25 "But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.""

d. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;"

e. Ephesians 5:3 "But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;"

C. How do we flee? 1 Corinthians 7.1-5; 9

1. It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

2. Let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband

3. If cannot exercise self-control, let them marry.

V. Conclusion

A. When we understand, and value, marriage properly, then we will understand how horrible sexual immorality truly is.

B. Our hope is to turn to away from perverted attitudes of sexuality of the world, flee it. And turn to Jesus!

Modified from David Stewart